Rinehart's daughter exits board of family business

Bianca Hope Rinehart, daughter of Australia’s richest woman, has officially left the board of mining family business Hancock Prospecting, following a fall-out with her mother.

The 33-year-old, who was considered the heir-apparent to Gina Rinehart (pictured), was reportedly removed from the board of the family’s flagship iron ore business on 31 October last year.

The announcement was made only last week (27 January) through a backdated notice filed with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission. Bianca has already been replaced by her sister Ginia, the only one of Rinehart’s children who hasn’t taken her to court.

The notice of the removal comes a month after Bianca, along with two of her siblings John and Hope, took legal action against their mother in an attempt to remove her as head of a family trust. The trust, which was started by Rinehart’s father, controls around a quarter of the family’s fortunes.

Although details of the legal proceedings have so far been kept confidential, thanks to a secret pact signed between the Rinehart family members, this could change because of a recent legal ruling.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, the suppression order may be lifted this week, unless the family makes an appeal, as the court has found that revealing the details would not cause any financial loss to the Rineharts.

Gina Rinehart, who is worth an estimated $9 billion (€6.85 billion) according to Forbes, has the mining company founded by her father to thank for her fortunes.

Hancock Prospecting was established in 1952 by Lang Hancock after he discovered the world’s largest iron ore deposit in Australia. Following his death in 1992, Rinehart took over the helm of the family-controlled business.